Typewriting machine



Sept. 27, 1921.

w. A. DOBSQN TYPEWRITING momma Filed Nov. 6, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheei 1 (men far,

Afforne Se t. 1

p 927 w. A. DOBSON YTYPEWRITING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 6; 1925 Patented Sept. 27, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM A. DOBSON, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR T0 UNDERVJOOD TYPE- WRITEB COMPANY, OF YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

TIYPEWRITING MACHINE. 7

Application filed 'November 6, 1925. Serial No. 67,298.

This invention relates to typewriting machines, and more particularly to margin gages and line-locking devices. The invention may be advantageously employed in socalled portable typewriting machines-in which durability, cheapness, lightness and compactness arev essential. v

In practicing the present invention, two stop-levers are pivotally mounted at the rear of the typewriting machine to engage marginalrstops on-a stop-rod. 'The stop-lever, which, by engagingthe right-hand marginal stop, arrests the leftward movement of the carriage. pis yieldingly mounted. and may have a slot in its left end for positively engaging a pendentlever, which in turnmoves a bell-crank mounted at the rear and bottom of the machine. From the bell-crank a wire extends forwardly for a connection with a bail. the latter being pulled by the wire against a releasing spring so as toenga'ge under rearwardly-extending cam-bearing lugs pivoted on the key-levers. to lockthe latter against depression upon typing of the last characters in a line. riage may be released by a key which disengages the slotted stop-lever fronrits marginal stop and permits the'releasing spring to swing the bail clear of the lugs. A. feature of the present invention is an integral coiled spring element inthe wire through which pull is transmitted to the locking bail, whereby the latter after being actuated may be swung to ineffective position because of the yielding of the spring portion, and thus permit the last depressed key-lever to cam the bail aside,-rise,and be locked by the bail swinging under its lug. Another feature is the provision of a flange-and-slot slidable fastening between I the two stop-levers, whereby the outer lever. which is compressedly engaged byits associated marginal stop, is braced against sidewise deflection by the inner lever.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear. In the accompanying drawings. Figure 1 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view attthe center of the machine. Figure 2 is a fragmentary rear elevational view of the machine. r

Figure 3 is a perspective view, illustrating the relation of a marginal stop-lever, a slidins; stop-lever and certain associated parts to each other. 1

view of akey-lever locked against depres- The keys and car- Figure 4 is a top view,-shown partly in section, of the parts illustrated in Figure 2. These parts are seen as one looks down fromthe front of the machine; i

Figure 5 is a fragmentary rear view of the marginal stop-lever in position for operating'the line-locking mechanism. 1

Figure 6 is afragmentary, rear view of the' marginal stop-lever in; position just after the line-lock-release key has been operated.

Figure 7 is a-fragmentary perspective view of theline-lock mechanism and the line-lockrelease means. i

' Figure 8 is anenlarged fragmentary side sion and. a key-lever in depressed position.

Keydevers 10 provided with keys 11. are connected through bell-cranks 11 and links 12 to tvpe=bars 13 pivoted at Hand having types 15 arranged to print'against a platen 16 upon depression of said'keys. The platen may be rotatablv mounted on a shaft 18 journ aled within bearings, not shown, fast on the ends of a carriageeframe 19. and the latter ma be letter-spaced step by step by An upwardly-extending apron 24 1nay be rivetedto a lower portion. 25 ofthe runway 21 and have two'rearwardlv-extending integral lug members 26 and 27. the latter having riveted to it a stud 28 provided with a tapped hole 29.

The travel of the carriage-frame .9 to the I right andleft may be limited by marginal stops 30 and 31-. which maybe like those shown and described in, the (to-pending application of Alfred G. F. Kurowski. Qerial No: 715 026. filed May 22. 1924: (now Patent No. 1572396. dated February 9. 1926). The marginal stops may be adiustebly mounted on a marginal st0pbar 32. the latter being fast on the carriageframe 19 and having rack-teeth 33 arranged a letter-space distance apart.

To arrest the lateral movement of the carriage-frame 19 at the left end of a line, there is provided a carriage-stop-lever 34 made of sheet-metal, which may have a stop-tooth 35 at the inner or right end (see Figure 2), and a spacing hub 36 at its left end, the hub having a hole 37 engaging around the stud 28. The lever 34 is held by means presently to be described, so that the tooth 35 will engage against and arrest the movement of a lower flange 38 of the stop 30. Means hereinafter described are provided for depressing the stop-lever 34 at will to allow additional travel of the carriage to the right for writing marginal notes and for other pur-' poses.

To stop the leftward movement'of the carriage-frame at the right end of the line there may be provideda sliding stop-lever end of its travel.

slot 43untermediate its ends arranged to 40, made of sheet-metal and. having a stoptooth 41 arranged to be compressedly engaged by a lower flange 42 of the marginal stop 31. when the latter has moved near the The lever may have a engage loosely around a shoulder portion 44 of a screw 45 having a threaded portion 46 arranged for screwing into the threaded hole 29 of the stud 28; may be provided near the inner end of the lever 40 and arranged to engage around a rearwardly-projecting flange 48 on lever which flange may have an open slot 49 arranged parallel with the body of lever 34, the width of the slot 49 being V bent out from the body of the apron 24. so

as to permit the right end portion of the lever 34 to engage between the finger and apron with a loose sliding fit. A hook 34 on the right end of the lever 34 may catch under the portion of the lug joining the finger and the apron. By the above-described means. the upward movement of the lever 34 is limited; its ends are held against sidewise deflection; and the lever 40 is slidable relatively to the lever 34 for a purpose hereinafter explained, and is also stiffened or braced by the latter to better resist compression due to the marginal stop flange 42 pressing against tooth 41. A spring 50 normally holds the outer end of the slot 43 against shoulder 44 and the teeth 35 and 41 in position for engaging their associated marginal stops.

The flange 42 moving leftwardly strikes a trip finger 51 positioned a short distance to the right of tooth 41. which finger is pivoted on a screw 52 in the outer end of a lateral arm 53 of a bell-crank carrierdever 54 pivoted about ashoulder-screw 54 in a A slot 47 stud 54 fastened to the apron 24. The finger 51 engages a lug 53 on the arm 53, and a lower arm 55 of the lever 54 which carries a hammer v56 on a wire 57 is swung mm of the carriage to the right, the flange 42 strikes the finger 51 and swings it idly clockwise against the tension of a restoring. spring 61, which may haveone end fastened to the lower end of the finger '51,' and the other end to an ear-62 on the arm 55. To prevent the carrier-lever 54 from also being swung clockwise. the inner portion of wire 57 is arranged to normally engage againsta pin 63 fast in plate 22. which pin also servesto hold one end of the spring 50.

It is desirable to lock the keys 11 against depression upon the actuation of the last type-bar 13 that prints on the line so that the type-bar may fall back audits key-lever rise and be locked by the same means that locks the remaining key-levers. To this end, a pendent lever 70 is pivoted about a screw 71 in the plate 22 and its upper end 72 fits in a position-holding slot 73 ina flange 74' of the lever 40. The lower end 75 of the lever 70 engages against a 'rearwardly-extending arm 76 of a bell-crank device 77 pivoted about a vertical screw 78 in a stationary channel-piece 79, the latter being fastened to the frame of the machine. To a leftwardly-extending arm 80 of the bell-' crank 77 is fastened a wire81 which has a coil-spring portion 82intermediate its ends, and which extends toward the front of the machine to be connected to the rear side of a lower arm member 83 of a locking bail 84, the latter being pivoted above said arm member 83 about screws 85 in bosses 85*011 the frame 23. A spring 86 having one end fastened to a stationary key-lever guidepiece 87 may have its other end fastened to the forward side of the arm member 83 opposite the wire 81. The springportion 82 of the wire 81 in the normal condition of the machine is stronger than the spring 86.; but is without much initial tension, and the spring 86 having more initial tension than the spring 82 normally pulls the lower member 83 of the locking bail over against a pin 87 fast in the machine-frame, so that the bail stands clear of the key-levers 10.

hen the carriage has been .moved leftwardly, so as to bring the end of a. line to the printing point, the flange 42 will have til) engaged with and pushed the slide lever 40 over against the top-of the pendent lever 70 '(see Figure 5), causing'the. lower end of the latter-to swing the bell-crank device 77 clockwise about its pivoted screw 78. This action results in a pull on the wire 81 strong enough to overcomethe pull of the spring 86, the latter being weaker than the spring 82, and thus swings the lower portion of the bail 84 rearwardly and an upper cross-piece 88 of the bail forwardlvunder projecting hook portions 89 of the key-levers 10, which cross-piece locks the latter against depression, as shown inFigure 8. To permit the key of the last character typed 1301186 and its type-bar 13 to fall back from the platen,

the upper side of its hook 89. may havea cam portion at 90, so that pressure of a return spring 91 of its key lever 10 may cam the cross-piece 88 out of the way, the coil-spring portion 82 of the wire81 being arranged to the bail has been actnated.

It is sometimes required to type a few additional characters to, complete a word or syllable after the keys 11 have been locked.

"This may be accomplished'by'pressinga line-lock release key 100,; which projects from the front of the typewriter frame, and

. is connected at'its back with a small stiff push rod 101, the latter extending rearward- 1y to a connection witli'a lower arm 102 of a bell-crank103 which is pivoted about a pin 104. and has a rearwardlyextending arm 105 arranged to engage under the outer'end ofthe slide lever 40 and raiseit"-(see FigureG) This swings theinner end of the lever 40 down about the shoulder screw 45, the latter being engaged at that timein the inner end of the slot 48. The tooth 41 is thereby swung down and disengaged from the flange 42, and the spring pulls the slide lever to the right. The pendent lever 7 0 now has no pulling force on the wire 81 and thespr'ing 86 swings the bail 84 out oflocking engagement with the key-levers 10', whose keys 11 may now be operated to type the desired characters. The spring 86 also returns the bellcrank 77 and the pendent lever to normal position. Upon removal of pressure on the release-key 100, a spring 106 coiled around pin 104 restores the bell-crank 103 and its appendages to normal position, and a spring 39 coiled around the hub 36 returns the stoplever, 40 and stop-lever 34 acting in unison therewith to normal position.

Totype characters in the usual left-hand margin of a 1etter,the key 100 may beoperated and by co-ac'tion of the above-described interponents, theinner end of the slide lever 40 is swung downwards and carries with it thestop-lever 34 because of the flange 48 engaging in the slot 47. The flange 38 may now pass over the tooth 35 permitting the carriage-frame 19 to be moved to the right beyond the usual starting point of a line. The stop teeth 35 and 41 are sloped downwardly at the rear of their working faces, so that the teeth may be pressed down and be ineffective for stopping the flanges 38 and 42, when the latter move over the teeth from their rear.

' Variations may be resorted to within the scope. of the invention, and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

' Having thus described my invention, I

claim: 1

1. In a typewriting machine, the combination with key-levers, a carriage, a marginal stop-rod mounted on said carriage, a. marginal stop mounted on said rod, and a pivot on said machine at-the rear thereof,v

of a stop-lever provided with a slot intermediate its ends arranged for engaging around said pivot, said lever being arranged to be engaged at one end by said marginal stop and pushed to the left, and instrumentalities arranged for locking said key-levers,

said instrumentalities including a pivoted bail arranged to engage under each of said key-levers to prevent its depression. a leversystein engaging with the other end of said stop-lever from said stop and operable thereby, and a yielding wire connecting said lever-system and said bail whereby to yieldingly hold the latter under said key-levers upon engagement of said'marginal stop and said stop-lever, and permit it to be swung' temporarily-to released position for looking a depressed'key-lever. I

2. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a carriage, a marginal stop-rod on said carriage, and two marginal stops mounted on said rod, one adjacent each end thereof, of a pivot-member fast on said machine'at the rear thereof, a leftwardlyextending lug on the rear of said machine positioned to the right of the pivot. a lever arranged for engaging the left-hand one of "said marginal stops and provided with a hole for engaging around the pivot and a finger-member at its right end, the right end portion of said lever being arranged to engage loosely under the outer portion of said lug with the finger engaging under the inner portion of said lug, whereby the upward movement of said lever may be arrested by said lug and the lever may better resist 'sidewise deflection, a second lever mounted on the pivot outside'o'f said firstnamed lever and having its right end arranged to be compressedly engaged by the right-hand one of said marginal stops, and means for fastening said levers together be tween the pivot and their right ends, whereby said first-named lever may help stiffen said second-named lever against compression from said right-hand mar inal stop.

3. In a typewriting machine, the combi nation with key-levers, a carriage, a marginal stop mounted on said carriage, and a pivot on said machine at the rear thereof, of a stop-lever provided with a slot inter mediate its ends arranged for engaging around said pivot, said lever being arranged to be engaged by said marginal stop and pushed to the left, a rearwardly-projecting lug on each of said key-levers arranged adjacent the front of said machine, a bail arranged to'engage under said lugs to latch said key-levers against depression, a spring arranged to hold said bail normally out of engagement with said lugs, a bell-crank mounted at the rear of said machine, a pendent lever having its upper end engaged by the left end of said stop-lever and its lower end engaging an arm of said bellcranlr for rotating the latter about its pivot,

and a wire having a tensile spring portion stronger than said bail-holding spring intermediate its ends arranged for connecting said bell-crank with said bail.

4. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a carriage, a marginal stop-rod on said carriage, and two marginal stops mounted on said rod, one adjacent each end thereof, of a lever provided with a pivotal mounting and having an end engaged by the right-hand one of said stopsfor arresting the movement of said carriage to the left, and a second lever having its right end arranged for engaging the other of said stops for limiting the movement of said carriage to the right, said second lever being connected at the right of said pivotal mounting with said first-named lever, whereby the latter may better resist the pressure resulting from said stop engaging against it.

v 5. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a carriage, a marginal stop on said carriage, key-levers, a rearwardly-extending lug on each of said key-levers, and a cam on the upper side of each of said lugs, of a bail having an upper across-piece movable under said lugs and pivoted between a said cross-piece and its lower extremities, a spring positioned forward of said bail arranged for holding the same in ineffective position with respect to said lugs, a Wire fastened to the lower portion of said bail and extending to the rear of said machine, a spring-coil portion in said wire stronger than said bail-holding spring and being normally without initial tension, and instrumentalities at the rear of said machine operto ineffective position after it has been actuated, so as to permit a depressed key to rise past said bail and be locked thereafter. 1

6. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a carriage, a marginal stop-rod mounted on said carriage, and a marginal stop adjustably mounted on said rod adjacent each end thereof, of a lever mounted on'a pivot fast on said machine and arranged for arresting the movement to the right of the left-hand marginal stop, a second lever mounted on the pivot and having an end arranged for engaging with and arrestin the movement to the left of the right-hand mar inal stop, said second-named lever having a slot adjacent its stop-engaging end, and a flange on said first-named lever arranged to engage in the slot in said secondnamed lever, so as to fasten said levers to gether, whereby the secondnamed lever may bebraced and stiffened by the other lever for-better resisting pressure from the marginal stop.-

7. In a typewriting machine, the combination with type-printing keys, a carriage, a marginal stop-rod mounted on said carriage, and a marginal stop adjustably mounted on said rod adjacent each end thereof, of a pivot fast on said machine at the rear thereof, a lever mounted on said pivot and extending to the right therefrom and having a tooth at its right end for arresting the movement to the right of the left-hand marginal stop, a flange projecting rearwardly from said lever intermediate said tooth and said pivot and having a slot parallel with the body of said lever, a second lever having a slot intermediate its ends engaging around said pivot and a second slot engaging around 7 said flange, so that the rimof said second slot will engage in the slot in said flange, and a spring arranged for normally pulling said slotted lever to the right, the right end ,of said slotted lever being arranged to engage with the right-hand one of said marginal stops whereby said slotted lever is moved leftwardly until it is stopped by said pivot.

8. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a carriage, type-printing keys, a marginal stop-rod on saidcarriage, and two marginal stops fastened 011 said rod, one adjacent each end thereof, of a stud-member fast on said machine at the rear thereof, a stop-lever having a lateral slot intermediate its ends arranged to engage around the stud and having an open slotin its left end, a spring arranged for normally pulling said lever to the right, a pendent-lever pivoted intermediate its ends at the rear of said ma chine arranged for its upper end to engage in the open slot of said stop-lever, and instrumentalities engaged by the lower end of said pendent-lever arranged for locking said keys the right-hand one of said marginal stops being arranged for engaging the right end of said stop-lever and pushing the latter to the left, thereby swinging said pendentlever and actuating said instrumentalities, said slot in the end of'said stop-lever functioning to prevent sidewise disengagement of said stop-lever and said pendent-lever upon movement of said levers.

9. In a typewriting machinerthe combination with a carriage, a marginal stop-rod on said carriage, and a marginal stop fastened on said rod adjacent each end thereof, of a pivot, a stop-lever mounted on said pivot and arranged to arrest the lateral movement of the left-hand one of said marginal stops, a second outer stop-lever having a slot engaging around said pivot and having its inner end arranged to be compressedly en- Q gaged by the right-hand one of said marginal stops for arresting the lateral movement of the same, means for fastening the inner;

outer lever may be braced against compressive strain from said right-hand stop and be movable with respect to said first-named bail and having a resilient yielding portion, :1

and instrumentalities arranged for automatically pulling on said wire, so as to swing said bail into locking engagement with said key-levers upon a predetermined movement of said carriage concomitantly with thedepression of the last-operated key-lever, said yielding portion of the wire being arranged to permit said bail to be momentarilyswung to released position after its actuation by said instrumentalities, whereby the last-operated key-lever may move into position for being locked by said bail.

WILLIAM A. oBsoN.

portion of said levers together, whereby said 

